Never a Moment's Rest
by MmeDeMerteuil
Summary: Falanu Maeba, archeologist and adventurer, decides to explore some particularly interesting dwemer ruins in the hope that this will lead to a ground breaking discovery. She can't do this alone, and so she hires some help on the way, which turns out to be more trouble than he's worth... or maybe not? Marcurio/fDB


Whatever Falanu had expected when turning the control knob, an icy cold spray of water from the nearby pipes wasn't it.

The fire atronach gracefully danced in the air in order to avoid the sudden splash, and hovered quietly right beside her, its dignified and peaceful look never losing its marble-like intensity. Her follower, however, didn't grant her the same detached respect.

"Whatever you're doing, Falanu, I think you should stop. Right now." My, how cheeky that one was. Almost too much trouble than he was worth, except she'd found herself alone in an unknown city, and those ruins were just too interesting not to explore, with most of the machines still in perfect conditions and working. That smart-mouthed mercenary had been quick to offer her his help, and she was more than happy to slip away from the smarmy Bosmer who was no doubt cheating his way into her pockets. Five hundred gold coins spent much better than the hundred and fifty she'd lost at the card table. Still, the familiarity with which he called her by name and questioned her every move was quite annoying.

"I pay for silence, Cyrodil. Silence, and lightning in the face of enemies. Not being ordered around", she calmly explained, without looking up at him, her harsh Dunmeri inflection and broken Tamrielic no doubt irritating him to no end. But she wasn't going to pamper him and force herself to at least keep the accent in control. She _was_ paying him, after all. "There are interesting machines here. Unknown technology. You say so too. I come to learn. You kill dwemer guardians."

She made it a point to act indifferent when she had to shift not to let the water touch her feet, glancing up at the ceiling. She had climbed down a little ladder that lead to a small, empty room within the room. Up to maybe four people could sit on the ground and stay a little cramped, and there were little benches all around the perimeter, a bit too high from the pavement for normal sitting. Odd webbings were etched underneath her feet, and they looked like they could open if she should found the right button or lever: she could spot pipes, peeking out from walls that were a slightly different color than the rest of the building. As if they had been treated with some sort of substance to protect them from something. The pipes then came out of the ground, snaking around the room in a glorious work of art made of machinery, till they reached what seemed like a huge box suspended above their heads.

Marcurio, a brow arched dubiously, sat on the ground above her, his legs dangling from the border of the… might it be a pool? Yes, it had to be. "You turned the knob, water came out. Congratulations. We've found a cistern. I've seen half a hundred similar to this one already…"

"More than so. Too complicated to be just a cistern. See those pistons there? What do they do?" She pointed at a corner of the ceiling, and felt the icy water reaching her feet; that deserved a curse, but she suspected the Imperial would take it as confirmation of his misgivings. He didn't follow her finger, though, and just stared at her, with a certain annoyance on his face.

"Get your feet wet, apparently. Just so you know, I'm not going to massage them in a couple hours, when they start to ache. That would take an extra."

"Khebreit s'wit", she whispered in her usual monotone, as she started turning the control knob in the opposite direction. Surprisingly enough, it didn't stop where it should've, and just kept going; the atronach by her side swirled in the air one last time, then disappeared with a popping sound. Interesting…

"I understood that last part. I hope you're speaking about yourself, since I'm not the one who's standing in a pool of cold water." By Azura, would he ever shut up? She was finally starting to figure it out… she turned around to touch the water that now flowed from the pipes, and immediately retracted her hands, allowing herself to stop restraining her reactions for a single, excited 'hah!'.

"Not cold. Hot. Come see this." Falanu grinned up at him, pushing her scarlet braids behind her shoulders with brisk excitement. "Read about the dwemer had hot water in pipes. Never seen one. Now I understand! A hot pool", she placed her hands on the walls, and realized they didn't just look different; there was definitely a coating of some kind that prevented them from becoming oxidated like some of the pipes in other rooms had. Her speech turned to a quick flood of mispronounced words. "Alchemical components on the walls to keep the material from turning bad. Have to take samples, analyze. Will need to make mappings for the complete device too! _Aaah-ma-zing_", she trailed off and slipped into her native language, walking around the pool, uncaring about the water that was starting to slowly slip inside her boots.

Marcurio, meanwhile, had curiously started touching the water, still refusing to enter, and looked even more unconvinced. "Odd, this is the first time I find something like this. Wait, I think it's getting hotter. There's steam coming out…" For once, he was too busy wondering at the unusual discovery to be sarcastic, something which, while she appreciated it, made the Dunmer a little disappointed. She was starting to enjoy their verbal sparring. "Hm, I'd get out of there if I were you…"

"Steam?" Too late. The shriek Falanu let out resounded in the room, a metallic rasp following its echoes, and she jumped away from the pipe. She stared at her own hand, where the bright purple welt left by the scalding water turned almost red, and immediately recomposed herself, shrugging with indifference. "No touching water when steam also comes out. Lesson learned." The way the Imperial rolled his eyes, as he reluctantly imposed his hand upon her own and casted a weak healing spell, was priceless.

* * *

About ten minutes later, after figuring out that there were intermediate temperatures between _freezing_ and _scorching_ and that there were hidden levers to make the water flow out from the bottom, the pool was completely filled with warm water, and Falanu was scurrying around in childish excitement as she took notes with her suppositions about how the mechanism worked. There were heating devices around the walls of the pool, she had concluded, that kept the water hot even when it was left there for hours; something else she couldn't see heated or cooled the water before it was released, but she could hear the faint sound of fire somewhere above her. Last but not least, she had found somewhere a little button that, when pushed, released something in the water that made golden foam start floating over it. After tasting it (much to her companion's horror) and seeing how it reacted to other components she carried, she decided that it wasn't harmful.

Marcurio was walking around, still looking his stiff, sarcastic self as he now and then commented on whatever she was doing. It appeared that nothing she could do would ever please him; not that she cared much, since she was actually starting to appreciate the company of a man who would dare to question her and make her elaborate on the thoughts she only vaguely hinted at… not to mention it was great conversation practice.

"This can change everything, bring good things to people! Especially in Skyrim. Great machines for heating water in such cold place", she continued her monologue, uncaring about the many mistakes she herself realized she was making. Her quill screeched upon her leather journal, leaving a small tear in its wake, and she sighed, trying not to press it so hard on the paper. When she turned around to look at her companion and add something about how it could be implemented in a whole city, instead of just some buildings… he was undressing, an unreadable look on his face. "Ku'Ilm…?!" She blinked a few times before freezing, an arched brow replacing the look of shock. "Why would you be doing that?" These words, unlike the previous ones, were pronounced with absolute care, and she even managed to suppress her accent, in an attempt to make sure he paid attention to her.

"So you _can_ speak like civilized folks do. Good to know." He spoke slowly, as if to a child, a smug, mocking look on his face. Then, he shrugged, letting his robe fall on the floor and remaining with only his pants. The air had warmed up substantially once they had turned the heating mechanisms on, so no goosebumps appeared on his skin; and, to make the sight even more pleasing, he was surprisingly toned for an apprentice mage. "I just figured I could try this wonderful invention out while you're busy taking unreadable notes and making incomprehensible claims about its functioning. You know, before you tear the whole room apart to see what's inside. Don't worry, I'll even let you know how it felt!"

"No. Not good enough." She shook her head, her frown growing daring, chin tilted upwards slightly as she neatly set her things down on the ground and started pulling at the belt of her own robes, placing it by her journal. "I need to try it too. See how it feels. Can't understand a device unless you try. Well, except death ones. Traps." Falanu gestured widely in the air before starting to remove her clothes, displaying no apparent shame. "This is important part of research." She concluded, as she wiggled out of her skirt and immediately started folding it, oblivious to the pleasantly surprised look on the mage's face.

She wasn't too sure about how the verbal sparring had turned into such an exchange of challenges, but it was entertaining. Stimulating, even. She was about to walk to the pool and slip inside, satisfied, but he stopped, placing one hand boldly on her side, and, by doing so, resting his bare arm against her lower back. The dunmer tilted her head to the side, looking at him inquisitively. In his eyes, a glimpse appeared of the very same look she had worn a few seconds before, when she'd taken up the unspoken challenge he had thrown for her to seize; it was gone soon, though, making room for a well-rehearsed, stern frown.

"Stop right there!" He loudly exclaimed, shaking his head as if she'd just made the most childish mistake in the history of internal plumbing. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Marcurio examined her with a detached, serious grimace, and if she didn't know better Falanu would say he was honest in his warnings. "How are you going to walk back to Riften with soaked underwear? That's going to be very uncomfortable, you know?" He sighed, removing his hand from her body, and taking a couple of steps backwards, still looking as disappointed as ever, arms crossed in front of her chest. _How silly_.

Now, she could've just shrugged it off. Leave it at that, and go on her way, and bear the pain of wearing wet underwear on her way back. It would've been dignified, even. Still, the glimpse of determination returned, a twinkle in his eyes that bore a blunt challenge. He, too, shared her same proud posture, his chin slightly lifted in an effort to make himself look even taller, a barely contained smirk. The young dunmer gritted her teeth, trying not to pout in response. He was daring her not to back away.

And despite the fact that she thought that she was a much better actress, and much more capable of underplaying her own words and reactions, Falanu loved competition almost as much as she loved winning.

"True enough. Can't walk back to the cities without wearing anything underneath. That is _uncouth_", she emphasized, knowing he would appreciate her using such a difficult word. Well, at least she thought it was a difficult one. She had only read it once somewhere, it was a miracle she still remembered it. "Turn around, please, sera."

He seemed surprised that she would respond favorably to his challenge, but he tried to cover it up with a shrug, and took a few more steps backwards before turning his back to her, closing his eyes to prove her that he wasn't planning to peek.

She pinned her hair up in a bun, removed the last scraps of clothing, and slipped in the water, her bare skin all tingly with joy as it met its warmth, letting out a brief, low sound of appreciation. Looking behind at her follower she saw that he was shifting uncomfortably on his feet, no doubts already bored by the wait. "It's fine to join in", she announced, a plain comment without inflections of any sort, and turned around, the soft foam drifting around her body so that it covered anything that would be instead bared to his eyes.

He turned, frowned some more, and briskly removed the rest of his clothing, as if to show that he had no qualms about being seen naked, unlike her. She bit down a pout before it blossomed on her bottom lip. He did have an attractive body, thin but toned by physical exercise, more similar to the one of dunmeri men than the hairy, broad bodies of the local natives. Well, he _was_ hairy, too, but not as much as other humans. At least this way she could appreciate the sight as she scolded herself for not having proven herself bold enough.

And she was always in time for an appropriate exit.

"I suppose this wasn't a complete waste of time, after all", he commented after stepping into the pool, his eyes glancing up and down, from her eyes to her clavicles, and then back up, as though expecting something. She ignored this, too busy thinking about ways to get back at him after having been surpassed, and just nodded, closing her eyes and stretching while she sung a little tune.

"See, smart-mouth? It's good. Good time spent researching." Falanu shifted in the water, unconsciously moving towards him, her bare feet tracing the decorations that concealed the draining system. Then, an idea hit her mind hard, causing her to grin as she blinked and looked up at him. My, his skin was flushed an awful lot. Maybe the water was too warm for him? _Who cares_. "You _mentioned_ paying an extra", she tried, speaking slowly in an effort to get it right, "paying an extra to get my feet massaged. How much would that be?"

The look on his face couldn't have been more puzzled, and that made her quite satisfied with herself. The fact that there was no real challenge spoken between the two, or that she couldn't imagine there being any prize for whatever qualified as a victory, was completely unimportant. Trying to embarrass each other into backing out was hardly a worthwhile activity, but it amused her greatly. "I suppose two hundred coins would be an _acceptable_ price for my undeniable skills", he quickly replied, recovering in just a second, his tone as arrogant and confident as ever. "But I guess that since you've let me keep part of the loot, in addition to paying me in advance… I could always let you try the first time for free?"

She nodded vigorously, sitting down on one of the benches and raising up a leg to peek from the water, her foot pointed towards him as she gave him the most innocent smile, slightly bent forward to make it so that her breasts were still at least barely covered by the foam. He sighed, clearly putting on an act for her, but immediately got closer, starting to work on her feet with expert movements, a proof that, for all his smug boasting, he did have the skills to back up his claims. Fingers skillfully dug in the plant of her feet, a pleasant sensation made even stronger by the heat, and once she delicately prodded him in the chest with her other foot he dutifully turned to it, doing his best to look cross the whole time. Despite her satisfied sounds, his hands quickly travelled up her calf, and, in response to her raised eyebrow, he gave a shrug. "The price, of course, is not just for a foot massage. Even I wouldn't dare to ask for so much for that, and anyone who does is certainly trying to rob you…" A reprimanding look was shot at her, which caused her to blink in confusion. Really, he was treating her like a child! Would he ever stop hinting at how she was letting that stranger charm her into losing all of her money at cards? That was a mistake anyone could've made. "No, I offer you a full body massage. Enough to leave you feeling lighter than you ever did for at least a couple of days. Unless you manage to find your way into a pit filled with steam centurions, and in that case even my astonishing abilities couldn't help you. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

She shifted uncomfortably, but not because of his touch; no matter how much she tried to outdo him, he always seemed to be able to turn the game around and put her with her back against the wall. He wanted to see how far she would go, that was clear. And she wasn't planning to walk away from those ruins without having proven to him that she was both a better mage than him and much bolder than he could ever hope to be. "Of course. Full body." She shrugged, eyes locked with his. "I was just thinking if you took long enough on them."

"Do I spy dissatisfaction?" Soft digits pressed into the muscles of her leg, causing a surge of both ache and relief to spread through them. The sounds she was about to let out, she decided, betrayed far too much enjoyment, and so she stifled them, acting indifferent the whole time.

"No, it is fine…" She muttered, casually removing a stray lock of hair from her eyes, and staring at him, studying his features. The look of concentration he wore now did good things to his facial features, softened the smugness that made her want to sneer back at him whenever he spoke. The silence was only lifted by the sounds of machinery, but this time Falanu didn't miss his sarcastic words. All the challenges she would ever need were being pressed into her skin by gentle hands, and she accepted them all, steeling herself not to flinch at the way butterflies fluttered in her stomach whenever he touched a particularly sensitive spot – behind her knee, the inner thigh, certain spots here and there close to her hips. She turned around when he gestured her to, kneeling on the bench, her bare breasts pressed against the warm walls of the pool, eyes closed as he found every smallest knot in her back and shoulders and smoothed it out. Avoiding to moan in appreciation was getting harder and harder.

It was when he made her turn around again that she started wondering whether she had made a good choice letting him get that far. Even without seeing it, she knew her cheeks were flushed a deep purple, and her chest had to be, too. She could always pretend it was the warmth, as Marcurio himself was sporting a flush on his face, but now that she could feel the slight tugging of her own hardened nipples she wasn't so sure she could keep up the act of being calm and imperturbable.

Which would've been most humiliating.

His next actions made her jump, causing her to snap from contemplation and gasp audibly. His hands had shifted from her sides, to softly touching her stomach, and then upwards… grasping fiercely at her small, round breasts, his eyes spying her own with surprising intensity. He was smiling at her, innocently, taking a single step towards her. "Careful, Cyrodil", she snapped, trying to back away, but finding the bench pressing against her back.

He arched a brow, hands leaving her breasts, but not before having left a languid caress from the sides, slowly, towards her peaking nipples, teasing them one last time. "Oh? Was that too harsh?" He inquired, without moving away from her. "That is an important part of the massage, too, don't you know? But of course, I can stop here… if that's too much for you."

Azura damn him, he wasn't even _trying_ to act!

"Too harsh", she repeated, and reluctantly took his hands in her own, guiding them on her breasts. She repeated to herself that it was, of course, all because he was daring her to, but her inner voice wasn't any more convincing than his own. "More gently, sera…" Was her voice cracking? She caught with her teeth the sigh that struggled to escape on her lips, when his fingers curled once again around her breasts, delicately, cupping them before his thumbs found the sensitive spots around her nipples and circled them slowly, delicately… causing the pulling and tingling in her already quite stiff nubs to grow in intensity.

When he finally touched them, he took her by surprise, and a whine forced its way out of her mouth. She looked at him, frantic panic flooding her thoughts. That was unseemly. Worse than that, she was letting him spy her most inner reactions, her feelings. It had been quite a while since she'd last been brought to this point by someone, and she wasn't sure whether she wanted it to be a man she barely knew.

"Too _harsh_?" He repeated, bent down over her to whisper in her ear, his lips touching her lightly as he spoke. Falanu sighed, realizing with a certain disappointment that her whole body was being shaken by shivers. Only, she wasn't cold. Maybe she could give this a try. Loosen up. Enjoy the moment.

When she shook her head, despite the anxiety that she desperately tried to battle, he lowered his arms, gently grabbing her by the hips to lift her to a sitting position on the bench, and quickly returned to lavishing her breasts with attentions. He kept varying his stimulations, seamlessly shifting from kneading at them vigorously, to caressing them, to pulling at her nipples with delicate tugs, and once he was sure that she wouldn't push him away he bent down, lips sealing around her stiff peaks, first one, then the other, sucking softly and leaving behind the sting of the slightest of bites. When he started lapping at them in earnest, hands grabbing firmly her bosom, all fear subsided, and she found herself touching him willingly for the first time, hands gliding across his shoulders to rest on his head, her fingers digging through his hair, a hiss slithering out from her clenched teeth.

That seemed to be just what he was waiting for. He took the last step that separated him from her body, her legs parting to make way for him and then curl around him, heels pressed at his back to keep him close. She could feel his chest now, pinning her to the warm walls as he allowed her to rub shamelessly against him, the water giving a languid, soft quality to their every move. Feeling her slickness against him, he groaned.

They kept going like that for a while, both pressing and grasping at each other without a thought, only focusing on their sensations, selfishly claiming each smallest hint of pleasure for themselves; then, Marcurio slid his hands around her hips again, and pulled her onto himself, forehead pressed against her own as he guided her down. He was pleasantly surprised to find that her usual, indifferent gaze had changed into a much more intense one, half lidded, vermillion eyes stealing burning glances from him, lips parted to let out hisses and sighs. Finally, they started moving in unison, somehow guessing each other's actions before they actually transpired.

When he finally slipped inside, he found no resistance, and Falanu arched her back, arms and legs curling around his body as she started to move, graceful and agile, something he would've never expected her to be after seeing her wearing those ugly, heavy robes and stumbling around the ruins. She pushed down against him with vehement passion, her inner walls stretching to an almost painful degree to accommodate his length, making sure that every time he brushed against those sensitive areas inside her that made her heart skip a bit with pleasurable slaps.

Between the hot water and the forceful way she moved upon him, she knew they wouldn't last long. She closed her eyes, feeling him resting his forehead against her cheek, lips finding and tormenting her neck with teasing nibbles and kisses. Her climax came first, her voice raising to chant trembling sighs that echoed across the walls, almost losing her grip on his shoulders as she arched backwards, walls convulsing around his shaft; he grabbed her by the hips with one hand, and placed the other between her shoulder blades, keeping her propped up as he started plunging into her as fast as the water allowed him, only spilling into her when she pulled him to her breasts, where he could hear the frantic heartbeats, feel the soft raising of her chest while she breathed, teeth dragging upon her wet skin until he sucked in harshly as he came.

She didn't allow him much time for recovery, climbing off him as soon as she was certain she would walk on her trembling legs, and swimming away from him just enough to be able to wash her face comfortably, a soft, purring sound coming deep from her chest. Then, she stopped, watching him as he abandoned himself on the bench, blushing and gasping for air, his hair sticking to his face. He cleared his throat, struggling to regain his composure, before speaking.

"Next time, you're paying me."

She arched her brow at him, blinking to get the water off her eyelashes. "Arrogant. Wanting to get paid for doing whatever you want to." She quietly commented, the sarcasm dripping from her voice matching his own perfectly.

"I meant for the massage", he explained in a wheeze, grinning shamelessly at her, a hand massaging at his own shoulder. Falanu allowed herself to smile at him, nodding briefly before slipping up the ladder and out of the water, offering the sight of her body to his eyes, which followed unquestioningly.

"Will do, sera. Now please drag yourself out of there and help me understand how this works?" His ridiculous sigh, the way he rolled his eyes, and his claims that '_there was never a moment's rest with her_' and she was '_abusing his talents'_ almost made it worth the pain of bearing his defiant manners.

Oh, to Oblivion with that. They were both having fun, and they knew it.


End file.
